The techniques of Digital Marketing have been revolutionized since the inception of the Internet in the world. Man has started to rely on the machines and devices for all his marketing needs. The technological disruptions have affected all the industrial sectors, and the domain of digital marketing is no exception. Highly advanced technology tools are used by the digital marketers for in-depth market research and understanding the consumer demands. In this article, the readers will get an idea to what extent the Digital Marketing has attained the radical shifts in this era of technological disruptions and innovations.
Last week, I downloaded one app from the Playstore to send a birthday cake from Bangalore to my sister, residing in Kolkata. After the installation, I searched for the options and without making a purchase I exited from the app. Within 5 minutes, I got a call from that eCommerce site enquiring about my incomplete transaction. The customer care official informed about the ongoing offers and discounts valid for a limited period of time. And, she insisted me to complete the transaction.
For the next few days, the advertisement of that particular eCommerce site continued to pop up in my social networking sites, like Instagram and Facebook. The ads promoted lucrative offers and beautiful images of the product, along with customer ratings. How and why is this happening? This age of advanced technologies is also known as Technological Disruption. The pop-up ads are the digital marketing tools, carrying the same purpose, lead generation, lead nurturing and lead conversion.
Increasing Rate of Smartphone Users
Marketing through digital platforms, like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter has been the order of the day since the Internet Explosion and Digitization. The telephone was initially invented to communicate from one place to another. Nowadays, the ads of the smartphones promote all the features like camera, battery, HD picture quality, lightweight, processors, storage capacity etc. Whereas, the primary reason, that is calling, is hardly mentioned anywhere.
The smartphone penetration in the diverse user base has catapulted the booming of digital marketing strategies. The smartphone has become the hotspot of the technological disruption, ensuring a top-notch user experience via the Internet of Things (IoT), Bots, Machine Learning, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Voice Search etc.
According to a report by Statista, the number of IoT connected devices would reach 75 billion by the end of 2025. The increasing number of connected devices will lead to a web of linked objects that the digital marketers can explore for acquiring user information, their preferences, likes, dislikes etc. This is what exactly happened to me regarding that eCommerce platform. The digital marketer of that site could get my information like my phone number, my location from where I am searching the products, my choices, my transactions etc.
With increasing literacy rates and per capita income, the users are inclined more and more towards activity trackers, smartwatches like Fitbits, etc to measure the heart rate, pulse rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, body temperature etc. This way, health professionals can monitor the patient’s health conditions as these trackers are internet-connected.
Technology-driven Features
Blockchain has the capacity to disrupt Apple’s Android’s integrated app platforms and can also be used for the transportation of goods and services, as studied by IBM. Blockchain is used by the digital marketers to initiate the interaction of the users with the ads. It helps to maintain records of transactions that can be accessed by all but cannot be tampered and to fix the digital display of advertisements.
Machine Learning analyzes, recognizes and processes important data, like market analytics and the changing market dynamics. Machine learning contributes to creating content for higher rate lead conversions and lesser bounce rates. Cloud technology has given access to the MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) to collect massive amounts of customer data or Big Data. This customized process of data collection can help digital marketers to perform in-depth market research, to understand the target audience and their demands.
Chatbots are highly advanced computer programming that enables the interaction between the bots and machines. Almost all the organizations use chatbots to understand the users, solve their queries etc. For example, apps like Swiggy use chatbots to solve customer problems and answer their questions. They can be easily integrated into an app, social media platforms, websites, etc. And thus helps the digital marketing team plan required marketing strategies.
1/3rd of the 4 million Google users are taking the help of the Voice search features like Google Assistant for surfing daily. Digital Marketing uses the voice search-friendly keywords on their websites for channelizing the traffic. Google Assistant, Alexa can be used in various regional languages besides English, like Hindi, Bengali, Kannada etc. The digital marketer also gets an idea by this applicationS about the usage of conversational tone on digital platforms like the website.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) enable users to enjoy a real-life experience generated by computer programming. The digital marketers can create content powered by AR and VR to entertain and engage with customers, increase value addition, ensure media coverage and create awareness among the masses.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps digital marketing in gaining insight into customer behaviour and preferences. The search engines like Google depend on AI and thus come up with relevant questions and answers based on the customer search.
AI being at the centre of Technological Disruption contributes to the Digital Marketing by personalization strategies, market trend analysis and customer profiling. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most essential digital marketing tools, by which the marketer can use the selected keywords on the websites and digital platforms. When the user searches using those keywords, he will be channelized directly to the website; thus increasing the chance of CTR and ROI.
Wrap Up
The internet penetration among the various economies of the Indian masses, the availability and accessibility of the internet, affordable internet charges and smartphone penetration have cushioned the progression of Technological Disruption. Loading and streaming of videos, advertisements, faster loading of a page can lead to increasing Click-through Rate (CTR) and Return on Investment (ROI). Not only the digital marketing sector, but Technological Disruption can also help in the blossoming of many other industries like insurance, automotive etc, can resurrect new hopes among the masses. In the series The Age of AI, one can find innovative ways in which tech can be applied and improve the daily lifestyle of the modern man.
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